The Baby1973

An A-list director. A jaw-dropping storyline. And depraved depictions of suburban violence, seventies fashions and "sick love." The result remains one of the most disturbing movies in Hollywood history: Anjanette Comer stars as an idealistic L.A. County social worker who investigates the case of Mrs. Wadsworth (former 50's starlet Ruth Roman of STRANGERS ON A TRAIN fame), her two daughters and son "Baby," a mentally-disabled man who sleeps in a crib, eats in a high-chair, crawls, bawls and wears diapers. But what secrets are all of these women hiding?

Member Reviews (12)

The 70’s probably never swung quite as far as they did in this thoroughly twisted tale of murder, depravity, and infantilism in good ol’ Suburbia. This is in sharp contrast to the rather bland, cookie-cutter look of this movie. Pace, lighting, dialog, and sets make it look like an ABC Movie of the Week, circa 1973. On the other hand, there are moments where you get to see a grown man wearing a diaper. Let’s see Hollywood do a modern re-make of this one!

The end of the movie will bring your mind to a complete halt if you're not benumbed by then already. A theme of maternal possessiveness runs through this film, but the comical approach runs the theme through a blender. At first the film has the feel of a made-for-TV movie, but when it gets rolling, the casualties really mount. At the least it should win an award for 70s-hippie party extras alone. O for convertibles and headbands!

I liked the premise of this film, but the film doesn't take itself seriously enough to actually examine the premise in an insightful sense. It is quite campy, and had moments where I couldn't tell whether it was intentionally being this way or not. It really wasn't that good of a film (especially in the third act) but it did have some positives, such as the battle between the protagonist and Baby's mother, and the suspense was handled competently. If you want to watch a trashy 70's film, this would be a good choice.